


Skyward Switch

by HeWhoIsMany



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Bodyswap, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 06:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20689301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeWhoIsMany/pseuds/HeWhoIsMany
Summary: An ancient artifact switches Link's mind into Peatrice's body, but can he change back before forgetting who he used to be?





	Skyward Switch

“Master, I am detecting an anomalous energy signature, the probability is 86% that this cave contains a magical artifact.” The comment from Fi, without her emerging from the magical sword that was her home, made Link roll his eyes. They’d been exploring Faron Woods that morning when a stray bomb thrown at a Moblin had destroyed part of a rock wall, revealing a small cave inside. The walls were covered in the roots of trees, and it had that same sense of earthen mysticism that the entire forest seemed imbued with. It was also only about ten feet long, and at the end it contained a treasure chest. It wasn’t exactly a change of pace for Fi to state the obvious, though he was beginning to really wonder where she got her percentages from. He slowly approached the chest, his muscular diaphragm rising and falling quickly as he became excited to see what was inside. Before he could open the box, however, Fi spoke up once again. “Master, please remember to exercise caution.”

She had actually manifested this time, looking at him with her blank, blue face. Link grumbled to her that he knew what he was doing, it wasn’t like he was as dumb as Peatrice. The item check girl had always been a periphery part of Link’s life, but since starting the adventure he’d started using her service more and more. It took him a few visits to realize that the girl’s bored front concealed someone who seemed to really like him...and was a moron. She did a decent job covering it up, but Peatrice was genuinely kind of dumb. While Fi obviously wasn’t the kind to laugh, she did seem amused as she returned to the blade. Satisfied, Link turned and opened the large stone chest, finding inside was what looked like some sort of idol. Picking it up to take a better look, Link found it was of an androgynous figure, strange writing covering the base. Then, as Link turned it over in his hand, a stray piece of bare skin, not covered by his gloves, touched the relic directly, and everything fell away as Link lost consciousness.

With a jolt, Link awoke, confused to find he was now leaning onto a wooden counter, his head in his crossed arms, the sleeve of his blouse covered with a little bit of drool. With a stretch he straightened up and yawned, still feeling really tired. Had him and Fi finding that relic been a dream? Then, it hit him: why was he wearing a blouse? Why did his arms look so much more slender? Why...Link looked down and saw green dress clad body of Peatrice. A closer inspection of his hands showed that they were in fact hers: dainty, with clean fingernails that she constantly worked on in her boredom.

How did this...the relic. It must have been the relic. It swapped his and Peatrice’s minds or something, and now she was, like, back on the surface or something. Link furrowed his brow, then looked back to the desk he’d been standing at before. Surely Fi would make sure Peatrice came back here, or fixed it, or whatever. In the meantime, it was important for Link not to mess up Peatrice’s life. Which meant...Link let out a sigh. He’d have to manage the Item Check stand all day. This was lame.

As Link had guessed beforehand, there weren’t a lot of other customers for the stand besides himself, but after an hour of just standing there doing nothing, mostly just thinking about what to do once he got his body back, Pipit arrived with a charming smile. “Hello there, Peatrice, do you think I could get back my quiver, and in return let you store this rupee pouch?”

Link snapped to attention at the question, and told Pipit he’d get that done, right away. The words felt weird coming out of his mouth, though, and from his face Pipit was thinking the same thing. Blushing, Link walked away from them stand into the back part of the space where the items were kept, and his eyes met a mirror reflecting his face. Even though the face was definitely Peatrice’s, the expression on it was too much like Link’s. The way he’d talked as well, it was definitely a Link way of talking. If Link wanted to make this work, if he wanted Peatrice to come back to the same life she’d left, he was going to have to do a better job of mimicing her. He walked closer to the mirror, staring into Peatrice’s face. _I am Peatrice__._ He thought to himself. _I used to be Link, but right now I am Peatrice, and I need to act like it. _Link looked around the room, thinking. Now then, where was Pipit’s stuff...here it is! As if she had been the one to place it there, Link found Pipit’s quiver and walked back to the stall with it in hand, handing it over. Unconsciously, her movements had lost their energy after looking into the mirror, becoming more sluggish. “Here you go, Pipit. Can you leave now?” Link asked, sounding incredibly bored.

Pipit looked at her with a confused expression on his face before holding up a red rupee. “Um, don’t I have to pay you first? And give you my pouch to deposit?” The question almost made Link facepalm. She’d completely forgotten about the wallet, which wasn’t like her at all, so she took that, then looked confusedly at the red rupee, which she took as well. Did it actually cost money to use the item check? Had Peatrice been letting her use it for free? Man, she really must’ve liked her, huh? As the rupee left Pipit’s hand, he laughed a little. “Sorry I don’t have anything smaller, but I’m sure you can make change for me.”

“Uh…” Link looked from the red gem to Pipit and back, her brain trying to think through this but struggling a little. “H-how much is it again? I think I forgot.” Link really hoped Peatrice’s reputation for dumbness could help her out here.

After a tense second, Pipit just smiled at her. “Oh, it’s just four rupees, like normal.” Nodding slowly, Link turned around and found the register further into the Item Check and opened it up, seeing a decent amount of money inside. She placed the red rupee in what was clearly that spot and then grabbed a yellow rupee out and walked over to hand it to Pipit. His chipper persona looked like it was struggling on how to say something to her. “Um, Peatrice, this isn’t enough. I also need a blue and a green rupee.”

Normally, messing up like that would have really hit Link’s ego, but for some reason she didn’t feel embarrassed at all. Instead, Link just shrugged, walked back over to the register, grabbed what she needed, then handed it to Pipit. “There. You can go now.” It was the exact kind of dismissive, bored statement people expected of her, and before she knew it Pipit was gone. Once the whole exchange was done, Link blinked her eyes, slowly, as she realized something: she had counted the change wrong. Some people may have made fun of her before because of how quiet she’d been, but she’d never been dumb. But trying think now, it was as if her thoughts were slowed, like they were moving through molasses. Was...was she getting as dumb as Peatrice? Was she mentally turning into her? The idea filled Link with terror, but also something like anticipation. After all, it wasn’t like Peatrice didn’t enjoy her life, right? Maybe being her wouldn’t be bad at all. Shaking her head slowly, Link threw that idea away. She’d wait for this to be solved, and she’d make sure Peatrice’s life was fine and everything, but she wasn’t going to just replace her or something…

After trying to find things to do for a few minutes, Link found herself just daydreaming, slumped onto the stall, something Peatrice had spent most of her time doing. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t daydreamed before as a hero, while flying her loftwing. Now, her mind went to the same place it had then: Zelda, her best friend, the person she cared about most in the entire world. At that moment, she was trapped in the past or something, or was it the future? Anyway, totally didn’t matter, what matters is that she was thinking of Link. Even though she still thought of herself by that name, the young daydreaming woman immediately connected it back to the hero, the one with the sword, who at that very moment might be off, facing danger to see Zelda again. What a hunk. Link was cute, and seemed smart, and Peatrice really wished he’d pay more attention to her, that he would actually be facing all these odds for her sake.

It was at that moment that Peatrice realized what was going on: to any passerby in the market area, Peatrice was acting as usual, lazing around and daydreaming about Link. But even in her own head, Peatrice was finding herself really becoming the person whose body she was in. Sure, she, like, used to be Link and stuff, but that was really dangerous. Honestly, if she never changed back, wouldn’t that be easier for everyone? The day would still get saved and junk, but now she wouldn’t be the one doing it. She could spent her days idly, at the Item Check, and maybe the next time Link came by, he’d finally reciprocate her affections, and they could start dating. At that last thought, Peatrice didn’t even realize that she wasn’t thinking of Link as someone she used to be, and she would never remember again that she had once been that hero. But that was probably for the best, despite her bored exterior, Peatrice found her new life satisfying in other ways.

Much later in the day, when some of the other shops were starting to close and Peatrice was almost ready to go home herself, she watched as Link entered, looked around, and met eyes with her. Internally, Peatrice swooned over the cute boy, completely unaware that she was that boy just that morning. He walked over to her and greeted her, asking her how her day had been going.

As if it were second nature to her, Peatrice shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t knooooow...pretty boring. I wish you’d come by sooner.” Finally, she worked up the courage to look right at him, and smile. “I’m heading home soon, do you want to walk me there? Y’know there are, like, monsters out at night, right? And you’re a knight. With a sword.”

Link blushed cutely at her question, then shook his head, and explained that he just wanted to check in on her, but she could ask the mechanic to walk her home, since he was still here. Disappointed, Peatrice started to sulk, but before he left Link told her she looked very pretty. That brightened her mood greatly, and raised her hopes that one day they’d be dating. She even allowed herself a few more minutes of daydreaming about a future with him. With that done, Link walked just outside the market, then over to a spot where no one could see, and summoned Fi. He told her that it looked like she was right, that it seemed like she had no memory of the switch at all.

The sword spirit looked dispassionately at Link, or rather the original Peatrice who was now the swordsman, and told him, “I believe there is a 99.9% probability of that assessment being accurate. From my analysis of the Soul Relic, I believe that if you had lost possession of the item you yourself would have completely lost your original identity. Yet even with it, your personality has changed to match my original Master’s so well that even I could not tell the difference. What would you like to do? Would you like to tell her?”

The idea was sorely tempting, but Link looked back into the market, back at the body he had once inhabited, and shook his head. She looked happy as she was, and if he was being honest with himself, Link didn’t want to go back to a dull life as a normal person. Though he had to admit, his original body was very cute from the outside. Maybe he should ask her out after all...

**Author's Note:**

> This was a commission from someone who specifically asked for Peatrice, in this version of continuity, to be dumber than normal. So her being dumb is not my view of the character, just how I was told to write her.


End file.
